Ruby

Chapter 16: Ruby

Romain followed Lax to the blacksmith shop.

Sigg Town had a relatively complete set of basic professions, barely able to be self-sufficient.

However, many things still relied on imports.

For instance, iron ingots and iron blocks. Sigg Town lacked independent metallurgical capabilities, which required technological support, sufficient manpower, and most importantly, iron ore.

As far as Romain knew, the Grand Duke Armor-Splitting's ducal territory could only smelt a little over three hundred tons of iron ingots per year.

Iron was very scarce, and its value was naturally extremely high.

Currency conversion in this era was simple.

1 gold coin exchanged for 10 silver coins, and 1 silver coin exchanged for 10 copper coins.

One gold coin, containing anywhere from 2 to 3 grams of gold, could only buy 30 to 50 jin of iron ingots.

Price fluctuations were mainly influenced by the quality of the iron ingots; sometimes, you couldn't buy them even with money.

Sufficiently high-quality iron ingots could even be sold for the price of 20 jin per gold coin, while those with too many impurities were difficult to sell.

Romain knew nothing about forging.

But it didn't matter.

It was just hitting iron; he'd learn as he went.

Romain looked at the iron ingots Lax had stockpiled. The blacksmith uncle frankly admitted that he had purchased inferior iron ingots, the kind where 1 gold coin could buy 51 jin.

However, it was enough to meet the basic requirements of the Sigg Town farmers for their farming tools; one couldn't be too picky.

Before long, the carpenter from Sigg Town also arrived.

Romain said to the carpenter and blacksmith, "The heavy plow is of great importance. You must manufacture it as soon as possible. I will have Mol send people to assist you with the forging. Upon completion, I will give you an additional 2 silver coins as a reward—equivalent to half a draft ox."

There was no technical difficulty in crafting the plow.

Broadly speaking, a plow was just a thick piece of iron; it didn't require fine finishing. Creating the general shape was sufficient.

Romain did not treat Lax as roughly or harshly as he had treated the farmers.

With only these two professionals available, Romain couldn't find anyone to replace them.

Furthermore, spring plowing was imminent, and the matter of the heavy plow could not be delayed.

This meant they would have to work overtime, getting up to work after only a few hours of sleep each day, with extremely high work intensity. Giving them some money was only normal.

These two had no objection to the task and were very compliant. Lax only said, "My lord, we don't have enough iron ingots."

Romain waved his hand, "Then reforge the original plows of Sigg Town. I need at least 40 heavy plows."

Those light plows were no longer useful.

Heavy plows allowed for deep tilling, which greatly impacted grain yields.

More importantly, land that originally required two or three passes with a light plow could be done in one pass with a heavy plow. While it was slower, the overall plowing efficiency was improved.

"My lord, even with that, it won't be enough. Each light plow only uses 9 or 10 jin of iron," Lax had basic arithmetic skills.

Sigg Town had over eighty light plows. Including the seven damaged ones, the total weight was at most nine hundred jin.

Moreover, there would be considerable loss during the reforging of the light plows, and some might even be scrapped. The utilization rate would definitely not exceed sixty percent; the deficit was too large.

Even if only 40 heavy plows were cast, it would require over twelve hundred jin of iron.

Romain was somewhat conflicted, wondering if he should melt down Green's steel greatsword and full armor.

The primary function of the heavy plow was deep tilling. Wooden plows with only an iron sheet wrapped around the tip could achieve a similar effect, but their drawback was high wear and tear; they'd be ruined if they hit a stone. Only pure iron plows with sufficient hardness and strength could flip the entire topsoil.

At this moment, Lax said respectfully, "My lord, there should be iron blocks on the merchant ship at the Sigg Town dock. You can purchase them from him."

He had chatted with the merchant named Morey and knew that the latter had iron on his ship.

The mainstream trade in this era was salt, iron, and textiles, but only merchants with status could engage in such business.

Upon hearing this, Romain immediately set off for outside Sigg Town.

At the Bro River dock, he saw Morey's several merchant ships docked in the distance.

Morey also spotted Romain approaching with a group of people and was instantly greatly alarmed.

Had that ill-tempered Witch been captured by Romain, and then sold him out?

In that critical moment, Morey's mind raced, and he devised three countermeasures: the superior strategy was to kneel and beg for mercy, claiming the Witch had coerced him; the middle strategy was to buy his life with money, atoning for his sins; the inferior strategy was to act as if nothing had happened and deny everything.

Morey sadly realized that while the middle and superior strategies were locally optimal, they might not be globally optimal.

So, he nervously walked forward, feigning confusion.

Upon learning Romain's intention, Morey's hanging heart immediately relaxed, and he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

This action seemed familiar to Romain.

He quickly remembered the Agricultural Officer, Mol.

That guy, due to his guilty conscience and weak kidneys, would involuntarily sweat every time he saw Romain, as if he were afraid Romain would put him in a pigsty.

It was normal for Mol to have this problem, but why was Morey feeling guilty?

However, Romain was here for business, not to pry into every detail. After inquiring, he learned that Morey's last shipment on the boat was exactly 450 jin of iron ingots.

But these iron ingots were of high quality. For 1 gold coin, one could only buy 30 jin of iron ingots. Buying all of them would cost 15 gold coins.

Romain frowned.

He only had about twenty-odd gold coins in cash at the moment.

He thought for two seconds, then took out a striking red gem from his embrace, which shimmered with a beautiful and moving luster.

"What is this?" Morey's pupils constricted.

"A ruby. You should know its effects. It can make the weak strong. A ruby of this quality should be worth 15 gold coins." Romain tossed the ruby to Morey.

This was a birth gift given to him by Grand Duke Armor-Splitting when he was born.

If he were giving it to an ordinary merchant, Romain would feel that the other party couldn't protect such a treasure. But Morey, the son of a great merchant, would surely be able to utilize its value.

And Morey was shocked by Romain's decision.

For humans who were not Transcendent, such gems were truly extremely precious. They could nourish the wearer's body, strengthen their physique, and help them become Transcendent as soon as possible.

It was just that the process was long, and the price was not expensive. Even rubies with higher purity were only worth 15 gold coins, while inferior products were only worth a few gold coins.

Normally, not many people used gems for transactions.

Because it was better to pass them down to descendants.

Some minor nobles or fallen knights, even if they sold their fiefs, would hold onto such ancestral treasures, just in case a knight might appear among their descendants.

But Romain had actually thrown it out so casually.

Morey was startled, then his expression turned solemn. "Your esteemed Lord, you are currently short of funds, but I have no doubt about your governing ability. This land has immense development potential. Please allow me to contribute my humble efforts to the construction of your territory and offer these 450 jin of iron ingots in exchange for your friendship. As for this ruby, I absolutely cannot accept it..."

Morey held the ruby with both hands and presented it to Romain. At this moment, he faintly smelled a stench.

He initially thought it was the smell emanating from the blacksmith and carpenter behind Romain, but upon getting closer, he realized the smell came from Romain himself, as if the esteemed Lord had fallen into a cesspit or had been playing in feces for two hours.

So Morey regretted it again, feeling that this person was somewhat unreliable?